Palliative treatment for stroke

Despite continued advances in prevention and treatment, stroke remains the leading cause of neurologic disability. This article reviews the broad spec trum of palliative efforts underway to treat the impairment and disability that results from stroke. Emphasis is placed on the importance of symptom c ontrol, increasing compensation, and enhancing residual and recovering func tion in patients with stroke. New approaches to impairment reduction have p roduced encouraging results, but disability reduction remains the corner-st one of care.